In 1997, there were not many active bands in Slovenia, or other parts of Balkan. Noctiferia started breaking new ground, proving that nothing, either origin or anything else, can not stop you if there is enough will and determination. Despite being bound to a southern European scene Noctiferia broke off that chain and followed their own path. Noctiferia was the only Slovenian metal band surviving all the bad and good times.
1997 - 2002
The founding members, Igor Nardin (guitars) and Uros Lipovec (bass), started recording demos and soon they recorded their debut album in 1997 – Baptism At Savica Fall. If we listen to this album today, we can easily say that at that time, Noctiferia represented probably the only black pagan metal band with flutes and themes that became popular some 10 years after. Yes, Noctiferia is before the time. Their debut was reviewed 4/5 in the Kerrang magazine and the doors for the band opened. First, Noctiferia toured with many foreign artists that started performing in Balkan, with Baptism At Savica Fall album they shared stages with Enslaved, Cannibal Corpse, Absu, Rotting Christ, Deicide, Dark Funeral, Marduk. They recorded a list of cool underground sessions.
2002 - 2006
In 2002, after their second studio album Per Aspera was released in Slovenia, they embarked on their first European Tours- with Marduk/ Kataklysm/ Immolation. In 2003, Per Aspera was released by the Arctic music group worldwide. Per Aspera was an obvious progression of the band. They changed their old school pagan black metal into very technical extreme death black metal and the reviews for Per Aspera were amazing. Gianni Poposki stepped in as a main vocalist. The album and the single Fond Of Lies was charted at #1 for entire 8 weeks on Slovenian National TV. Noctiferia toured Europe with Malevolent Creation in 2003 and same year with Immolation and Aborted. They became a cult for the Slovenian underground, but it was time to change the nature again. They were the headliners (after Danzig) at the first edition of the Metalcamp festival 04, Tolmin, Slovenia and this is where they met with Peter Tägtgren.
2006 - 2009
The band started working on their third album Slovenska Morbida. They entered a well-known Slovenian Studio in 2006 and started recording Slovenska Morbida. This was a different album, full of different cultural influences from female vocals, unknown sounds for metal and strange national instruments. The band flew to Sweden to The Abyss studio and started mixing the album with Peter Tägtgren. The album did well in the extreme underground and received excellent reviews. Two videos were recorded for this album and both got great airplay, video Mara charted on the MTV Adria charts and many sold out shows over the Southern Europe followed. The album was promoted with several tours- two UK tours with Hypocrisy, a couple of shows with Cradle of Filth and Pain, two appearances at the Metalcamp's main stage, a co-headlined metal stage at Wave Gothic Treffen, a headlined metal stage at the Exit festival, opened for In Flames and Dimmu Borgir. Slovenska Morbida was re-released for GAS market by Danse Macabre in 2008 with 3 bonus tracks in German. The South-Eastern European tour with Samael and Keep of Kalessin in January 09 was the last under the mark of Slovenska Morbida. In cooperation with the Master of Metal, their debut Baptism At Savica Fall with complete demo collections was released in 2007 and completely sold out. After that period the band felt that with a new drummer Mathias Gergeta stepping in the line-up, the new approach was needed. They turned back to the technical Per Aspera style and mixed that with the power of Slovenska Morbida.
2009 - 2014
The process of recording Death Culture started in 2008 when the band worked on the preproduction in Switzerland with Mass of Samael. In beginning of 2009 Noctiferia entered DB Recordings studio with a talented producer Dalibor Strniša. Once the material had been prepared, it was send to Peter Tägtgren's The Abyss Studios and Peter started working on it just while working with Overkill, Dark Funeral and Immortal. In order to get the maximum possible quality of the recording, Peter suggested to send it to the Black Lounge studio for the mastering, where Jonas Kjellgren delivered the final blow of Death Culture. The cooperation Noctiferia- Peter Tagtgren- Jonas Kjellgren turned out as the best combination and its result- Death Culture speaks for itself. In first days of 2010 Noctiferia signed a worldwide deal with Listenable Records who released Death Culture in March 2010.
Same year album was nominated at Metal Storm's best industrial album of the year 2010 (won 2nd place in company of Fear Factory, Killing Joke, The Young Gods, Triptykon...)
In October 2011 Noctiferia got deal with Artworx merchandising from Germany and toured as exclusive support through Europe with Swedish metal giants IN FLAMES. Tour lasted over 20 days and Noctiferia performed in front of more than 40.000 people on that tour.
Same year Noctiferia was invited by Castrol oil company to be featured in their promo video and to use song “Slavedriver” as a soundtrack. Also song “Demoncracy” was and will be also used in Slovenian movie Exit (2013) and in English movie The King’s Men (2014).
In summer of 2012 the band performed at Bloodstock festival (UK) and later same year at Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana at National Athlete of the year award ceremony which was broadcasted live over national TV. First time in history an extreme metal band performed two songs live for president of Slovenia and other VIP persons of the country.
In early 2013 Noctiferia was featured in VICTORJI annual ceremony, Slovenian version of Grammy’s.
Noctiferia is currently in the studio recording new album, scheduled for 2014.
Studio albums
Baptism at Savica Fall (erotica promotions, 1998)
Per Aspera (artcic music group, 2003)
Slovenska Morbida (danse macabre 2006)
Death Culture (listenable records, 2010)
Tba (2014)
The official Noctiferia website:
http://www.noctiferia.net/
Turn Away
Noctiferia Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I am the project which lives subjectively
And before there was nothing else here
An object cannot become somebody
If it never were something
Everything that counts is a will for might
And all that lasts is our freedom to create somebody
Means same as to cause something to exist
I am my time to come and go
I am a state of being guilty
I am my freedom
I turn away
I turn away
Laughing progress is just a wrong placed idea
We were so fuckin' spoiled and failed
We talk and breathe as others do
But we never know who the others are
I am my future
I am my time to come and go
I am a state of being guilty
I am my freedom
The law of evolution is the law of selection
The perfect one's always promote
But we are still remaining cowards
We feel the differences
And being ourselves we operate without wishes and hope
I cannot see anything else except the failures and weaknesses
There is no external of absolute truth
The lyrics of Noctiferia's song "Turn Away" are a reflection on the nature of identity and existence. The song speaks of the individual as a "project" that lives subjectively, and explores the idea that we are the sum of our past experiences and the choices we make. The lines "I am my future / I am my time to come and go" suggest that the individual has agency and control over their own destiny, but is also burdened by the weight of their actions and their own sense of guilt and responsibility.
The lyrics suggest that there is no external truth that can fully define us, and that our understanding of ourselves is subjective and malleable. The lines "Laughing progress is just a wrong placed idea / We were so fuckin' spoiled and failed" convey a sense of disillusionment with the idea of progress and the failures of modern society. The song implies that our understanding of ourselves and our place in the world is shaped by the choices we make and the values we hold, rather than any external truths or absolutes.
Overall, "Turn Away" is a song that speaks to the struggle of the individual to navigate their own identity and find meaning in a world that can often be confusing and overwhelming.
Line by Line Meaning
I turn away
I am deliberately avoiding something
I am the project which lives subjectively
I am a work in progress that is created based on my subjective experiences
And before there was nothing else here
Prior to my existence, there was nothing else in my current situation/environment
An object cannot become somebody
Inanimate objects cannot become conscious beings
If it never were something
If it was never in a state of existence
Everything that counts is a will for might
The most important thing in life is the desire to be powerful and influential
And all that lasts is our freedom to create somebody
The only thing that endures over time is the ability to shape/create one's own identity
Means same as to cause something to exist
Relates to the concept of causation, or how things come into being
I am my future
My future is determined by my own actions and decisions
I am my time to come and go
My life is finite and will eventually come to an end
I am a state of being guilty
I am accountable for my own actions and bear the weight of my own conscience
I am my freedom
My sense of identity is tied to my personal sense of liberty and self-determination
Laughing progress is just a wrong placed idea
The notion that progress is always positive and should be celebrated is misguided
We were so fuckin' spoiled and failed
Our culture has been degraded by an excessive focus on comfort and instant gratification
We talk and breathe as others do
We are socialized to conform to societal norms and expectations
But we never know who the others are
Despite our efforts to fit in, we can never really know the true thoughts, feelings, and experiences of others
The law of evolution is the law of selection
The process of natural selection determines which traits are passed down from generation to generation
The perfect one's always promote
The most successful people always manage to rise to the top
But we are still remaining cowards
Despite this fact, most people are too afraid to take risks and pursue their true potential
We feel the differences
We perceive and attach meaning to distinctions between individuals and groups of people
And being ourselves we operate without wishes and hope
Despite our awareness of these differences, we are still driven by our own impulses and needs
I cannot see anything else except the failures and weaknesses
My focus is on the negative aspects of situations/people rather than the positive ones
There is no external of absolute truth
Objective truth is difficult to discern, if not impossible, as perspectives and experiences are always subjective
Contributed by Adeline P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.